Images posted on X on Saturday showed “Ares,” a US A-10 Warthog, one of 12 aircraft from the 124th Fighter Wing of the Idaho Air National Guard (ANG), spotted at New Hampshire’s Portsmouth International Airport, bore “kill markings” on its nose suggesting it had downed Iranian Shahed-type drones.
As the military issues website The War Zone (TWZ) reported on Monday, the aircraft had returned from a six-month deployment to the Middle East when the US military acted to intercept Iranian drones attacking Israel in June. The A-10’s markings likely indicate that “Ares” played a part in that or subsequent actions – although the US Air Forces Central (AFCENT) refused to confirm their involvement “on security grounds.”
In July, several military commentators reported that the US had diverted a large number of the Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System II (APKWS II) rockets to its forces in the Middle East from Ukraine, where they had shown a high level of success in both surface-to-air hits on Russian drones and against ground targets.
The rockets had been modified and repurposed as cost-effective air-to-air counter-drone weapons, serving as an alternative to the multi-million-dollar AMRAAM missiles [The estimated cost ranges from $1.1M to $3.0M per missile, depending on the version. – Ed.]. It was confirmed that these would be carried on F-16 and F-15 fighters as well as the A-10 – the use by the latter seemingly confirmed by the photos on X.
Save the Warthogs
The Warthog’s formal nomenclature is the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II. It is a single-seat, twin-turbofan, straight-wing, subsonic ground attack aircraft that first entered service in 1977. The US Air Force has wanted to phase out the A-10 for several years as it is considered too slow and vulnerable to air defense systems over the modern battlefield, such as the Russian S-300 and S-400.
For this reason, it was planned to fully retire all Warthogs by the end of Fiscal Year 2026 (Sept. 30) and to pass its tasking in the Close Air Support (CAS) role to its F-35 Lightning II and F-15EX aircraft. However, the latest Senate National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) has proposed blocking full retirement and keeping about 100 A-10s in service in the USAF with the intention of phasing them out over a longer period.
In the early days of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, there was a clamor from certain areas to donate the Warthogs to Ukraine, which continued to use the Soviet-era Su-25 (NATO: Frogfoot) – an inferior analog to the A-10 in both capability and protection. The idea was rejected not only because of the threat from Russian surface-to-air missiles (SAM), including S-300s and S-400s, but also from Moscow’s fighters in the absence of air superiority over the battlefield.
But that was before the advent of drones…
Warthog as a drone hunter
The use of the A-10 as a drone killer is an attractive proposition, with its ability to loiter, its low-flying capabilities, and its agility would make it ideal to take on relatively slow-flying attack drones such as the Russian Shahad / Geran 2 propeller-driven drones. Ukraine has been using helicopters such as the Mi-8 (NATO: Hip), and Israel has been using the AH-64 Apache in the counter-drone role.
Although the A-10 is a slow jet-powered aircraft, it still outmatches most rotary-wing platforms. But its biggest limitation is the lack of advanced radar and infrared sensors that make the Apache a successful drone killer. That may be overcome if the Idaho ANG pilots have already proved the concept. And the Russian SAM threat would not be an obstacle in western Ukraine.
A retrofitted data link to Ukraine’s mature drone and missile early warning and tracking system could direct the A-10 to the target area where it would be employed to protect cities and infrastructure relatively far from the front line – leaving the US Patriots and other Western-supplied air defense systems to protect high-value targets and those further forward.
The A-10 has 11 external hardpoints for weapons – eight under the wings and three under the fuselage. It can carry up to 7,200 kilograms (16,000 pounds) in a mix of bombs, missiles, and rockets along with its 30 mm GAU-8/A Avenger Gatling gun.
If it were only used in a counter-drone role, those hard points could theoretically be used to carry 11 seven-round 70mm laser-guided APKWS II rocket pods. Each rocket has a 6.2-kilogram (13.7-pound) semi-active laser seeking, high-explosive M282 warhead – it is said to be highly accurate.
One caveat: Warthog employment as an air-to-air platform is hampered by a lack of onboard radar and would require dedicated support from ground intercept controllers or AEW&C aircraft using close control procedures.
The Warthog pilot would then need to visually acquire the drone target, using thermal night vision devices (NVDs) during night sorties, and then cue the targeting pod to illuminate the drone with its onboard laser.
This would require specialized training for the pilots in addition to A-10 transition training, preferably from instructor pilots with combat experience against the Shaheds in the Middle East.
The Warthog / APKWS II combination has the potential to provide a major, cost-effective step forward in the fight against the ubiquitous drones Russia uses to attack Ukraine. It just needs someone with the imagination to bring it to Kyiv’s fight.